Boot



M. MURR. JR

July 19, 1938.,

BOOT

Filed Sept. 10, 1936 Mdx M UY'I I I N VE N'fag advanta e f priormilitary bo invention relates to" boots and more par ticularlyto what isknown'as 'a"semi-higli" mi tary boot. 7 I toprovide a rii t ed .T' u h fi fantryor marching boot'sf while at the ame" time "The 'objecto'f' theinvention durable and comfortable bootifr retaining the costofmanufacturI ithin reason;

the leftffoot;

m1i t V With the" above 1 general o e'cts in K view, {and some othersthat will be obvr its to those skilled inthe art from the descriptionhereinafter given, the invention, consists in" the f eatures v andf com;bination' of partswhich wilbfirst' be described connection withtheaccornpanyin'gdrawing andthen particularly pointed out.

Fig.2 is a'section on'the line'ze l "1 i 3 is a section takenfthrou'ghthejlongi udinal' central axis or the fastener on the line Fit-5.41s adetail view of the fas'tener before being applied to the boot;

. Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the inside of the upper closed ortubular part of the boot leg;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. l of a modification of the invention;and

Fig. 7 shows a portion of the boot leg with the tongue [9 secured toboth edges of the slit.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, it will be seen that the boot ispartly slit, that is to say, arranged to be opened at one side, from apoint a short distance below the instep (but not extending to the toe)to a point below the top of the boot, the top being entirely closed. Thefront side portion and the rear side portion are arranged to lap pasteach other to close the slit and can be drawn to the closed position andheld by a particular form of closure device comprising two series offasteners and a single lace having its bottom end fastened to the bottomof the front side portion and arranged to run zig-zag through therespective fasteners as shown in Fig. 1. One series of fasteners issecured to the front side portion and the other series to the rear sideinns, Mlinichl --ntmimaa'satm am, 1935,, Serial No. 100,062

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wan-stream inemen; to pretest eget-mien movement. Also, to insur'e. thatthe lace will not 1 t 1 '5'" vided astop deviceiat the. free end. Thismayjbeabuttona's indicated at It. i 'I" l'1e'fastenersare of two kinds,namely an open type l2 and'ac1osedtype] IZff The opentype of V fastenerhas I a hook beneath which "the lacing passes' and from which it maybe'fr'ele'ased, while thei closed type of fastener has an eyelet throughwhichthe lace passesandin whichi it will beheld against removafwhilefreeto move longitudinally, lilach of the fasteners compris'esaplate orstrip hjaving' a hole throu h which .3. rivet may \be passed tos'e'cure'l the plate to thejboot, theplate having; anYupturned and bentover portion, which inthe ffast en er of'the' open'type, I12, is bent'into the formfof' a hook, and intheclofs'ed type, lZfQis bent'into theshape offan an; to form an .eyelet, Eachffastenerlisheld to the leatherof theboot by a rivet,mostadvantageously of the shoe or leather rivettype, each having a tubular female member provided witha head at itsouter end, wi nn r. meI Tmemb arr n d. to b n sertedint'o the-tubularmember and swa'ged to prevent withdrawal, the male member having a headbearing against the inside of the lining. The rivet holds the fastenerto the leather and lining.

At the top of the series of fasteners secured to the rear'side portionof the boot there is a special fastener in the nature of a stud, orso-called pinch, l1, having a relatively large head, this stud beingsecured to the rear portion of the side of the boot. The lace afterbeing pulled tight may be wrapped around this stud beneath its head, tofirmly secure the lace.

In practice, a few of the fasteners, near the lower end of each series,are of the closed, or eyelet, type, l2, the others are of the open, orhook, type, I2, and the length of the lace, I3, is such that, whenundone from the stud fastener, or pinch [1, it will furnish enough slackto allow it to be released from the hook fasteners, thus permitting theeyelet fasteners on the front side portion to be drawn away from theeyelet fasteners on the rear side portion of the boot, whereby theopening in the boot will allow the front and rear side portions of theboot to spread so as to allow thefoot of the wearer to pass down easilyinto the foot portion of the boot. Then by pulling the lacing throughthe eyelet fasteners to draw the rear side portion and the front sideportions to their closed position, it may then be passed over the hooksofthe hook fasteners and be Wrapped tightly around the stud fastener, or

pinch, thus firmly securing the overlapping side portions in closedposition. Then by pulling up on the top end of the lace and swinging ittoward one end of the strap, the slack of the fastener is drawn tothe-top inside the boot and there held by friction under the strap.

The boot is also provided with loops by which it may be pulled on to thefeet, as indicated at 18.

The top of the boot is a closed annular portion, or tube, M, ofconsiderable depth. For example, in the semi-high boot it is aboutonefifth the height of the complete boot but may be higher if desired.It is intended to fit snugly;

but not too tightly to the calf of the leg of the wearer, and in anycase to be large enough to allow the foot of the wearer to pass throughiteasily.

To put the boot on, the lace is pulled downward at the upper end untilthe button, I6, is stopped by the strap, l5. Then the lace, I3 isunwound from the stud or pinch, H, which allows enough slack to permitthe lace to be unhooked from the hook fasteners, L2. This loosens thelace so that it may'slide easily through the eyelets in the eyeletfasteners, l2, and allow thereon the front side portion to separate fromthose on the. rear side portion, leaving the boot free to bulge at theslit.

At this stage the boot is ready to be put on. The foot of the wearer maybe slipped through the tubular top and as it reaches the slit portion ofthe leg of the boot, the latter will spread open to give plenty of roomfor the foot to pass down to its position in the foot of the boot. Whenthe foot of the wearer is in place, it is only necessary to pull on thelace to draw together the rear and front side portions where the eyelethooks are arranged. The lace is then hooked over the hook fasteners,drawn tight and wound around the stud or pinch. The button, I6, on theupper end of the lace, It, may be drawn up to take up the slack, andthen pulled laterally to pinch the lace at one end of the strap where itfits tightly against the inside of the boot top.

It is obviousthat the boot can be put on in a very short time. In caseof a sudden emergency it is not even necessary to stop to run the lacearound the hooks of the hook fasteners, because the lace is held to theboot at both ends and cannot drag on the ground.

In the best embodiment of the invention, each hook fastener has its backcurved inward transversely to reinforce the hook, as shown in thedrawing, and the point of the hook is curved upward at the extreme endto make it easier to slip the lace into place beneath the hook.

Furthermore, in order tomake the boot substantially water-tight, acollapsible tongue, l9, (Fig. 7), inside the slit portion of the boot,may

be provided, this tongue consisting of a strip of soft leather havingits vertical edges secured to the rear side portion and to the frontside portion, the lowerv end of the tongue being secured to the toeportion whereby water cannot flow through the slit into the interior ofthe boot.

each other, said slitterminating at the lower edge of the saidtopportion where the upper portions of said frontand rear side portions aresecured, a series of fasteners secured to the rear side portion,anotherseries secured to'the front side portion, a single lace secured at itslower end to the boot and arrangedto pass zig-zagover the respectivefasteners in the two series and through a hole in the lower part of theannular top 'to the inside of said top, a strap secured to the inside ofthe said annular top beneath which the upper portionfof the lace.passes, a button on the free end of-the lace and a pinchfastenerdevicesecured near the upper end of the slit around which thelace may be locked. MAX MURR, JR.

